Developers put all kinds of hidden secrets, shortcuts and tricks in the gadgets you use every day. Here’s one I bet you didn’t know before.
Take any USB cable installed in your home. This symbol on one side is not just brand or decoration. It will point up if you are connecting horizontally; if you are connecting a cable vertically, the USB symbol will face you. Nice.
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1. Teach your iPhone a new trick
Thanks to iOS 14, you can now tell your phone to execute a series of new commands with the help of the back touch gesture.
When this feature is activated, the phone interprets the taps on the back as the tap of a button. But, unlike the old home button, back taps can do much more than lock the screen. You can customize the gesture to open your Wallet app, mute the volume, take a photo and more.
Rear ringtones are only available on iPhone 8 and newer models with iOS 14 installed. Here’s how to set it up:
- On your iPhone, open settings, Followed by Accessibility.
- Touch Touch.
- Scroll to the bottom and choose Touch back.
- Touch Double tap or Triple Tap to choose an action. You can have up to two touch gestures on the back assigned at the same time.
Tapping the back of the phone twice will activate the double tap gesture you have assigned. Tap three times and the triple tap gesture will be activated. You can switch the defined gestures at any time, following the same steps.
You can also identify a song with a tap on your iPhone. See how to do that on my website.
2. Looks a lot better during zoom calls
Zoom’s daily meetings can be a drag. At least you can be at your best by activating Retouch my appearance.
Usage is free, so there is no need to upgrade to a paid Zoom account. Here’s how to set it up:
- Open Zoom on your desktop and click on your Profile picture. Then click settings.
- click on the Video tab.
- Under Video settings, click Retouch my appearance.
- Use the slider to adjust the effect. Zoom will remember your preferences the next time you log in.
You can also activate Retouch my appearance in the Zoom iOS app:
- In your Zoom app, tap settings.
- Touch Dating.
- Touch Retouch my appearance.
- Toggle this option to display your video with and without retouching.
If you don’t use Zoom for your video calls, you can still use this trick. Snap Camera from the creators of Snapchat that allows you to apply filters to calls from Zoom, Skype and Google Meet. Tap or click here for instructions and a direct download link.
3. Get better audio during video calls
Nobody likes crackled audio or background noise in their video calls. It is embarrassing and disturbing. The Krisp app uses machine learning algorithms to detect excess noise and remove it.
Here’s how to set it up:
- Tap or click here to create an account and download the Krisp app. Follow the installation instructions.
- Open Zoom and click settings.
- Open the Audio settings. In the drop-down box, select Krisp for your microphone and Krisp for your speaker.
- In the Krisp app, choose the microphone you want to use and the speakers you want to use.
Krisp is compatible with Skype, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. Look for the preferences or settings menu on your video service and choose the microphone input and the speaker output. If you need more help, Krisp offers support for Mac and Windows users here.
4. Find out how apps are spying on you
When Apple released iOS 14, it included a new feature that notifies users when the camera or microphone is in use. These indicator icons are a huge increase in privacy.
Android 11 doesn’t have the same built-in feature, but you can get the same alerts with the free Access Dots app for Android. After installing the application, you will see a green icon if your camera is on or an orange icon when the microphone is in use.
When you install Access Dots, it asks for full control over your phone. It is safe to approve, as the app needs permission to check if other apps are using the microphone or camera.
Tap or click here to download access points and to see the steps to be taken when an application is watching your every move.
5. A quick way to mute your music quickly
If you’re playing music or audio on another tab, you don’t need to stop what you’re doing to calm it down. Instead, you can silence the tab with just one click.
In Google Chrome, right-click on a tab with audio playback and choose Mute site. This step will stop playing any audio on the tab until you unmute.
In Microsoft Edge, it’s even simpler. Just click on speaker icon. The same step goes for Safari.
6. A better way to copy and paste to get rid of trash
Have you copied text and seen the format get messy when trying to paste it? Nobody wants Frankenstein documents to copy from different sources, which is why a clean folder is the best way to keep all of your text consistent.
To do this, simply press Ctrl + Shift + V on the PC or Option + CMD + Shift + V on the Mac. This will paste the text you copied and remove any formatting it had. If you paste your text into a document, it will match everything else.
7. Speed up your typing with easy text replacement shortcuts
Here is a powerful trick that can save you a lot of time and hassle: Text replacement. This trick allows you to configure shortcuts to replace longer phrases, such as “GM” for “Good morning!” You can do this with common phrases or customize them.
Think of the possibilities. The @ symbol becomes your e-mail address, and something like “my home” can be a shortcut to your address.
On an iPhone:
- Go to settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement
- Touch plus iconand then enter your phrase and shortcut. Touch Save .
For Android, you can do this using the Google keyboard:
- Open Gboard settings > Dictionary > Personal dictionary and choose your language.
- To add, touch the plus sign. In the first field, type the word or phrase you want Gboard to remember. In the second field, type the shortcode you want to pull up.
8. The secret scroll you would like to know
Not all of us have a sophisticated mouse with a scroll wheel. There is an easy way to scroll embedded in the keyboard: just press the space-bar with the browser open and you will move down the page.
To scroll back up, press Shift + space bar.
You can use this trick on all web browsers on Windows 10 and macOS. If it’s not working, click on the background of the web page you’re on and try again.
9. Manage notifications received simply on iOS and Android
Managing notifications for each app on your phone can be a real pain in the neck. But the latest versions of iOS and Android allow you to change these settings quickly. The next time a notification comes that you want to cancel, you can adjust the settings right there in the window.
On iOS, press and hold the notification when it appears on your phone. The window should expand slightly. Then touch the three dots icon to change the settings for that application.
On Android, touch and hold the notification and touch Settings. You can choose to turn off notifications by touching Notifications Off or Advanced to allow more detailed notifications, such as notification points.
10. Use dark mode to save your eyes
Android 11 included a new dark theme that is easier on the eyes when viewed in low light. You can even program when the dark theme is activated, in case you don’t want to activate it all the time. Here’s how to set it up:
- Swipe up and down on the screen to see the Quick settings menu.
- Press and hold the Dark theme icon. It looks like a half moon.
- You will see three programming options: “none, ”“League from sunset to sunrise“AND”Call at custom time. “
- If you choose “Call on personalized time”, choose the times when you want the Dark Theme to start and end.
Now that you know these useful technical tips, you can get more out of your devices without spending any extra money. You cannot win this.
Using an iPhone? Tap or click here to see steps for using Dark Mode along with new live wallpapers, ways to clean your home screen and more.
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